By Emmanuel Bukabeeba

THE attitude of Prof. A.B.Kasozi, the executive director of the National Council for Higher Education, portrays a callousness that has come to characterise Uganda’s public servants. Kasozi supports the system of people financing their education, but how about the poor families?

The failure of the Government to pay keen attention to the education system is jeopardising the benefits of the NRM revolution.
Education has been forced off track with the privileged classes isolating their children in good government-aided schools. Peasants feel betrayed, trapped, frustrated and helpless.

The education system is expected to make a decisive contribution to the redistribution of opportunities and qualifications. Education is supposed to promot social mobility, but not anymore. Now a new age of education segregation is dividing our society. Does anyone care?

The Government has failed to give education a mission, direction or destiny. It only blames teachers and parents. Who does education serve?

In 2008 President Museveni directed that all schools be informed about the job market. Has this been done? Prof. A.B. Kasozi was asked to produce the national human capital requirements. What happened?

The Minister of Lands, Omara Atubo, is quoted to have lamented about exhorbitant school fees failing the poor attaining education. The education minister, Namirembe Bitamazire, one time admitted that “Uganda is using irrelevant curricula in schools.

The Government must take responsibility for the failure of the education system instead of blaming it on the poorly paid teachers. Why has it failed to pay teachers well?

In its exercise of education segregation, the Government promotes school exclusion. The best schools with the best infrastructure charge exorbitant fees to exclude brilliant children from poor families.

The Government has no strategy of managing academic failures since most children who fail come from poor families. In 2009 over 70,000 pupils failed PLE exams, 40% failed vocational examinations while a whopping 46.4% failed UCE.

During the 46th independence anniversary, President Museveni declared: “The NRM Government places utmost priority in the development of human capital.” Where is the Government’s strategy, plan and budget reflecting education as a priority?

The President seldom visits any school on his nationwide campaigns. The Government continues to ignore the problem of youth unemployment. The youth are only organised for campaigns.

This is wrong and the Government should quickly implement its proposed programme of giving the youth loans to start businesses.
The Government should also invest in building human capital? It can start by increasing the Government sponsored students at university to 15,000.

Uganda needs 80,000 nurses. A degree in nursing requires tuition fees of sh4m per year for a four-year programme one would need sh8m. Can the peasant afford this? Both parents and students feel let down.

The Government should consider mentoring and sponsoring innovative and science brains from a young age. Nothing is more important than children who are Uganda’s future.

The Government should give low income town dwellers an opportunity to carry out business once a month in a designated area free from tax so that they too can afford to send their children to school.
The writer is a the director, Uganda Transformation Society